Anyone who was a recent subscriber of SWTOR might remember that for their 1.2 patch code named Legacy, they were offering a free month of gameplay if you either had a max level character or had reached a certain Legacy Level by a certain date. Well, as an alt freak, I was not withing range of a max level character but I was close enough to go for the Legacy Level and I did make it and earned myself a free month.

The only problem is that I found I pretty much wasted the month playing other games and I’m wondering if I am alone here. There is a lot to like about SWTOR, but after getting a couple characters into the 40s on both sides (and separate servers), you basically see the same planets in the same order depending on which side you’re on. If you don’t like one of those planets, it makes it kind of hard to level unless you want to grind space missions, or *gasp* pvp to skip it – I’m looking right at you Balmora.

I normally prefer to play healing characters even though I like to solo. I like being able to help out the odd passerby and it makes leveling in flash points/dungeons easier because healers are usually in demand. The only thing is that none of the healing classes in SWTOR appeal to me except for the Jedi Consular Sage (possibly the Sith Inquisitor Sorceror, mine is still in the teens). The reason? I know it is going to sound shallow – but it is the healing effects on the abilites.

The Sage’s heals are pretty darn cool, plus you actually feel like a hero using the force powers in all the story line stuff. I was so pissed during my Smuggler story how they were like “Oh no, a Sith. You can’t possible handle her, so here is this Jedi as her nemesis because there’s no way you can take her down.” That really ruined the immersion for me. I also got a taste of that in the Imperial Operative story line where I had to basically beat a Sith lord three times just to weaken him enough to advance the story. How come player controlled Jedi/Sith are so weak but NPCs are nigh untouchable unless you can use a lightsaber?

So, feeling kind of salty about SWTOR, I squandered my free month playing EvE Online and Diablo 3. Now, news of an expansion for Rift has me updating and playing the Lite Edition on a new character to see if that special feeling is still there – and it is.

I think I am done with SWTOR until they release an option to have multiple talent specs. The dungeon finder is just not enough for me. Plus the little circle of friends that I play with is starting to disintegrate from the changing weather. I only have one die hard gaming brother that sticks with me through anything and we will be attempting to duo some Lich King heroics and vanilla raids in WoW for achievements as we both have the annual pass.